Lance Corporal Stephen Shaw, 24, has won the Military Cross and Flight Lieutenant Christopher Gordon, 29, the Distinguished Flying Cross.

A hero soldier and airman from Greater Manchester have been awarded two of the highest military honours for showing exceptional courage on the frontline.

Lance Corporal Stephen Shaw, 24, has won the Military Cross and Flight Lieutenant Christopher Gordon, 29, the Distinguished Flying Cross.

The awards, alongside the Distinguished Service Cross, are the joint-third highest military honour that can be bestowed – behind only the Victoria Cross and the Conspicuous Gallantry Cross.

L/Cpl Shaw, from Heywood, saved the life of a colleague under enemy gunfire during a fatal ambush in Afghanistan.

Flt Lt Gordon, from Manchester, rescued 30 troops in his Chinook helicopter while under heavy Taliban fire. L/Cpl Shaw risked his life to drag Captain John Scarlett from an ambush at a police checkpoint in Helmand Province last July.

The soldier, from the Royal Army Medical Corps, then gave life-saving treatment to Capt Scarlett – who was shot in the leg and also received the Military Cross – and three other soldiers caught up in the attack.

Guardsman Craig Andrew Roderick and Guardsman Apete Saunikalou Ratumaiyale Tuisovurua, of the 1st Battalion Welsh Guards, and Warrant Officer Leonard Perran Thomas, of the Royal Corps of Signals, died of their injuries.

L/Cpl Shaw, a dad-of-one and former St Joseph’s High School pupil, was shot in the boot and rucksack as he pulled Capt Scarlett to safety but escaped uninjured.

He said: “Bullets were pinging everywhere. Once I pulled John outside, I strapped him up and asked if he was ready to crack on and he said yes.

“My main focus then was on getting to the casualties inside but it wasn’t possible initially. It is the worst feeling having men down and not being able to get to them. I wasn’t really thinking, I just ran in and pulled him out. My main priority was getting the casualties out and treating them.”

His citation reads: “Shaw’s actions during that horrific attack were in the very finest traditions of the British Army.”

Flt Lt Gordon, was the lead captain of two Chinooks which had taken 60 British and Afghan troops into an insurgent ‘safe haven’ in Helmand Province.

But as they tried to pick up the troops, they came under heavy fire, leaving Flt Lt Gordon’s helicopter with just one working engine to retreat back to Camp Bastion.

He was forced to make a quick calculation to work out if he could still take off with 30 soldiers on board, despite being an engine down.

Flt Lt Gordon was forced to fly three miles at a height of just 15 to 20 feet before negotiating an emergency landing back at base. He said: “From the numbers, I had calculated we had a good chance that it could work but nothing was going to be certain. As the dust cloud was created I couldn’t see anything in front of me. I wanted to make sure I wasn’t going to overload or overcook the good engine.

“We have various limits, then there are the ‘only use in an extraordinary circumstance’ ones, which this was.

“It was a reasonably heavy landing back at Bastion. They didn’t know I was on one engine but they knew we were in a tricky situation. They were just extremely happy to get out of the situation because they didn’t know if they would.”

Military Cross

The Military Cross is granted in recognition of ‘an act or acts of exemplary gallantry during active operations against the enemy on land to all members, of any rank in Our Armed Forces’.

It is the third-highest military decoration which can be awarded to armed service personnel and was introduced in 1914.

In total, around 1,200 people have received the honour since its introduction.

Distinguished Flying Cross

The Distinguished Flying Cross is a military decoration awarded to personnel of the UK’s Royal Air Force for ‘an act or acts of valour, courage or devotion to duty whilst flying in active operations against the enemy’.

The award was established on 3 June 1918, shortly after the formation of the RAF.

During the First World War,a total of 1,100 DFCs were awarded 20,354 DFCs were awarded during the Second World War.

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